Monday, October 20, 2014

My Eyeshadow Palette Collection

... where I show you my slightly outrageous eyeshadow palette collection, as well as share my deepest thoughts on buying make-up palettes and sets in general, especially in perspective of the freshly launched Holiday Limited Edition collections and upcoming beauty sales. So, are you ready for some palette p0rn?
Just to clear some particulars: this is my entire larger eyeshadow palette stash, meaning trios, quads and quints are not included. I've decided to go ahead and share both my freeform/custom eyeshadow palettes as well as premade ones, with the latter reviewed previously on the blog for the most part, so I'll link separate posts with swatches where possible. Also... I like neutral eyeshadows. I make no excuses.
Let's start with the freeform/ personalized palettes. First off, the old school classic in every make-up fanatic's eyeshadow stash: MAC Pro Palette Eye Shadow X15. As you can see, I own the old version of the palette (I had gotten the new but disliked how bulky it was and sold it in a blog sale), and mine features a mix of MAC shadows as well as discontinued INGLOT round pans and an odd Annabelle shade. I do tend to switch things around here and there as I have more round pans in my collection that fit in this palette, but for the most part it looks like in the photo. I do still like my MAC palette and reach for it fairly often; it's my second go-to after the large Z Palette shown below.
I currently have two Large Z Palettes in my collection: an older (and fuller) one that houses my most used eyeshadows, and a second back-up palette which has other, less used eyeshadow pans, as well as some La Femme blushes. I do occasionally rotate shadows between the two palettes or even the MAC palette for added variety. My main Z Palette features a mix of pressed Fyrinnae eyeshadows, Rouge Bunny Rouge refills, some Inglot square pans, depotted Burberry shadows, as well as random Stila, Too Faced (depotted Natural Eyes palette), Shu Uemura, Yaby and Annabelle. I absolutely love my Z Palettes and also have an empty smaller one on hand for travel.
Now, the two lower-end freeform palettes in my collection: a anothersoul Book of Shadows from Etsy, filled with depotted Wet n'Wild trios, and an eBay 12 round pan, filled with pressed NYX and Barry M pigments, extra round Inglot pans, and a stray Elf shadow. Out of all the palettes I'm showing you today, I use the random round pan palette the least: it's mostly storage for eyeshadows that have fallen out of favor. I do however enjoy using the DIY Wet n'Wild palette, even though I haven't reached for it in a while. I should get back to it!
As for the ready-made portion of my eyeshadow palette collection, let's start with the two most hyped-up neutral palettes I own: the Urban Decay Naked 1 (old tutorial using the original Naked here) and theBalm Nude'Tude. From these two, I generally prefer UD Naked, although it has some shades I never reach for (Sidecar, Half-Baked, Gunmetal). However, the undertones of Nude'Tude don't suit me very well, and the palette lacks good matte medium depth blending/transition shades - maybe with the exception of Sultry, which is a touch too warm and dark for my skintone. But all in all, both of these are fantastic buys, especially for make-up beginners.
Here are my two Stila eyeshadow palettes. I don't own any other products by Stila apart from the eyeshadows, and while some shades in these palettes are slightly dry and not as pigmented as I would have liked, overall I do like them and I do still reach for them on occasion. The Stila 'In The Moment' palette occupies an interesting niche in my collection: it has both cool-toned purples as well as warm peach and bronze shades. The E! Live from the Red Carpet neutral palette is another great neutral staple; I'm pretty sure this one has been discontinued, but if you can find it, I think the quality is on point - I just wish they omitted the Convertible Color cream pan from the powder line-up.
Sleek MakeUp i-Divine Mineral Based Eyeshadow Palettes are some of the best powder eyeshadows you can find in a drugstore; unfortunately, not an American one, but I hear that Sleek online ships worldwide and the shipping charges are not too extortionate. I own two: the classic Storm 578 (top of the photo) and Oh So Special 658 (bottom, a spring look featuring Oh So Special here). I've definitely used Storm more but I've also owned it longer, and have fond memories of using it on my honeymoon. I haven't pulled these out in ages, but I like them too much to purge: in fact, I have gotten rid of one in the past - the warm yellow tones in Au Naturel didn't suit me very well at all, even though the quality was stellar.
Last but not least, the newest member of my palette stash, the bareMinerals READY Eyeshadow 8.0 palette in The Finer Things from the 2012 Holiday Collection. Here's a full review, but in short, I absolutely love the texture of bareMinerals READY shadows and the cooler undertones of The Finer Things suit me very well. I used to own The Power Neutrals palette too (swatched and reviewed here) but didn't like the shade selection even half as much, so I've passed it on to my warmer-complected best friend, who continues to use it daily.

And that's it! I like to think that I'm keeping my eyeshadow palette addiction under control by weeding out palettes I don't use very often: like I mentioned above, I purged the Sleek Au Naturel palette, bareMinerals Power Neutrals, and an empty new MAC large custom palette a while back, as well as a whole host of various eyeshadow pans I wasn't using. I'd also wanted to sell my old Too Faced Natural Eye palette, but due to lack of interest, I depotted it in the end and stuck the pans in my Z-Palettes. I'm still in two minds about doing the same to my Stila palettes in hopes of remembering to use them more often.
As for my reflections on expanding my palette collection/ buying make-up sets in general, I'm quite proud to say that I haven't bought a larger eyeshadow palette or a set in over a year. Here's my gripe with ready-made palettes: while I usually really like SOME of the shades, I never like ALL of the shades enough to warrant having the whole palette - same for various value sets and such. So before pulling a trigger on a new one, I think long and hard whether I like and need ALL of it, and 95% of the time, the final answer is NO. Which is precisely the reason I haven't bought Urban Decay Naked 2 &3 in the past, or the Laura Mercier Artist palettes, or the Lorac Pro 1 & 2, and of course the new Mega Pro (also - too big to fit comfortably in my drawer). Not that I wasn't tempted - I really was - but ultimately I'm glad I haven't sprung for either. I'm still tempted by all the value sets Sephora has now been putting out for the Holidays, but probably won't get anything in the end. And coming back to eyeshadow palettes in particular, I now have my eyes on smaller ones, five or six pans maximum, that fill a specific gap in my collection - this way it's a lot more likely I'll use and enjoy all the shades in a palette.

I hope you enjoyed this stash inventory post; of course, let me know if you have any additional questions or maybe would like to see my custom MAC or Z-Palettes in more detail. Do you also collect eyeshadow palettes? What are your criteria for getting a new one? What are your thoughts on make-up value sets?

23 comments:

  1. So lovely! I expected more Inglot though? They're so good and so cheap in Poland! (and they still have the round ones for now!)

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    1. Ha, I know how much you love Inglot, Mariella! I think I overdosed on Inglot eyeshadows at some point and then wasn't as tempted to get more - I unfortunately had gotten some shades in the past that I didn't ultimately use very much, and maybe that spoiled some of the fun for me. But, I still love and use the ones I've kept!

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  2. Hey Monika, palette p0rn indeed! I really don't have many palettes at all, for the same reason. It's basically impossible to find one with 10 perfect shades that you'll really put to good use. I much prefer quads/quints, or even amazing singles nowadays. It's great because however amazing a palette seems, I can sit it out :)

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    1. I'm a lot more drawn to quints these days as well, much easier to find some interesting shades and combos you don't already have in your collection. And I love my Z Palettes for storing single pans, I depot everything I can these days!

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    2. I would love to see a post on your trios, quads, and quints. I don't have a lot of premade palettes, just 2 Lorac skinnies and 2 15 pan custom MAC palettes, which I'm rarely reaching for, and 2 4 pan custom MAC palettes. I'm finding I prefer smaller palettes these days and would like to pick up some quads or quints during the sales as I like smaller choices of color combinations. I'm eyeing the Too Faced natural eye palette.

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    3. I think the new Too Faced Natural Eye looks lovely - but I didn't much care for the old one, which is why I depotted it and now only reach for half of the shades. I'll definitely put the trios, quads & quints post idea in my blogging notebook, thanks for the request Melanie!

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  3. I seriously think that the Bare Minerals eyeshadows are underrated; they are ridiculously pigmented and buttery and ugh, they definitely rival UD's. Loving the shade selection in The Finer Things! The only reason I have Lorac Pro is because ha, I actually don't own any of the pre-made palettes mentioned here. My gripe with limited edition stuff is that I feel like "MUST GET IMMEDIATELY SOLELY BECAUSE LIMITED EDITION" and I've got a hoard of limited edition palettes/products that I barely touch as a result. I'm getting better with curbing purchases now though!

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    1. I'm sure I would have bought Lorac Pro if I didn't have the original Naked, and it would have probably been a better buy for me personally - but I don't need it for now with my selection of neutrals. I've long fallen of the wagon of LE collections, maybe partly because then I can never talk about the products on the blog because no longer available, and I like to come back to products from my stash in different posts ;)

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  4. Thanks for sharing this, Monika! You have a v. lovely selection of neutrals + accent colors as well. I esp drool over your Fyrinnae pressed collection, so many pretties! Oh, I'd love to know how you like theBalm e/s, particularly if you can share with me how the shadow texture feels, pigmentation, etc.
    I used to own a MAC pro x15 filled w/ MAC and some of the older Stila refill rounds, but I get rid most of them and also the palette. I think I did a revamp of my makeup before I made a cross-country move, about 8 years ago, and my newer makeup are mostly quads and singles now. You made a good point about the value of "huge" palettes like UD Naked 1,2,3, etc. in that I'd probably only use a few colors in rotation and not much others. I actually prefer to buy singles now (lots of bulky Burberries in my collections.. sounds like fruits more than e/s compacts :-D) but I also buy quads because I like a no-brainer look. I must admit, I feel I'm in a bit of a makeup rut lately, but also I'm happy to stay here for a while because it means I never have to think of what to add in my collection (I'm sure there's a huge gap, for e.g. I'm craving reddish coppery hues now). I would consider buying makeup value set perhaps as a gateway drug to a certain brand, say.. if SUQQU ever made such thing, wouldn't it be nice, right?

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    1. Pressing those Fyrinnae shadows was one of the best thing I did for my make-up collection - and you wouldn't believe how long these sample pots can go. For under $3, how can you resist them?!
      As for theBalm shadows, I only have this one palette, but the texture and pigmentation of Nude'Tude is fantastic. The mattes have maybe a touch less slip than the Inglot mattes I like to use, but still very blendable. It's just the undertones in this palette that don't suit me that well: the pearl white is a bit too light (would have preferred a pearly cream, or a matte white), the golden yellow is too yellow, the pink a bit too intense on my veiny eyelids, the bronzes slightly too warm... You get my gist - I'm nit-picking though, and I know your skintone is a lot warmer than mine, so they should work better for you.
      Hahah, oh no, bulky Burberries - how awful! ;) Did you attempt to depot yours? I got mine depotted from Belly, so didn't have to worry about that.
      I know Suqqu makes Holiday coffrets, but I've heard that the only point of getting those is to purchase the LE eyeshadow quads in them - the rest of the products are quite average. Ehhh, maybe it's better that way for me...

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    2. Nothing beats Fyrinnae in terms of colors, variations and value, I used to own quite a bit, and yes, worth every penny even pressing them.

      Oh no, don't get me started but I DID have some thought of outsourcing my depotting to Belly, now you get the wheel turning again in my head...

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  5. I get what you mean about buying the entire palette -- e.g., for Urban Decay Naked, I really only use like, ...six shades? Thing is, each of those pans is basically a full-size eye shadow, and each full-size shadow costs approx $20, so it really is just more economical to purchase the entire palette and depot if I find it too clunky.

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    1. Your remark about volume and value in some palettes is very true, and a reason I continue picking up smaller sets; another consideration would be the fact that sadly, some shades are only available in a palette - I believe when UD Naked was first released, some shades like Naked were available only through it. Eh, I should get behind the idea of depotting some of my ready made palettes and chucking the shades I don't really like...

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    2. I've been thinking about it as well -- I have Naked 1 and 2, and I probably only use a combined 10 shades out of both! #sadbuttrue

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  6. That is quite an impressive collection! Like you, I really try to look at whether or not I will have a use for all of the shades, and that's why mega palettes normally put me off—I just don't find them to be necessary. I can honestly say I use every single palette I own, and I intend to keep it that way. Somehow, I don't have a MAC custom palette (which may make me a bad beauty blogger haha), and my friend and I have been thinking about giving it a shot, but decided against it. I think we will do Inglot instead because those are cheaper and have more options than duo, quad, and 15. Would love to know more details about your Z-Palettes!

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  7. You have a great collection and I'm a huge fan of all the neutrals you have! I've had a few large value kits but they were really cheapy ones and I got rid of a few the last two years. I have always been eyeing many palettes but I too have held back and haven't bought any of the naked palettes, tarte ones, lorac ones...I don't want my collection to get too big and I not able to go around to all of the shadows! I do have a few sleek palettes and I love them all, I also have the lorac unzipped and I'm so glad that I got it instead of the lorac pro!

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  8. No excuses needed for neutrals! I myself love Z palettes. I have 4 large ones filled with depotted colours, and another 4 Unii palettes. I'm keeping pre-made palettes I love, but gave away others I don't use as much. Looking at them, I feel like I have lots of neutrals too. Hahaha!

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    1. I love how you depotted your Urban Decay 15th Anniversary palette, I'd be much more tempted to use the pretty bright colors if I could rotate them out with my neutrals in a Z-Palette! How do you like your Unii palettes, Lily?

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    2. I like both my Z and Unii palettes. The Unii palettes are obviously smaller, but they feel sturdier. I love that there's a mirror included, and depending on how you sort the depotted pans, it can fit all you need in there for travel :-)

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  9. You've got beautiful palette.My eyes are glued on the sleek and bareminerals one.Great post:)

    themeticulousperfections.blogspot.com

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  10. This was a great post! The only large palette I own is Nude 'Tude, which actually convinced me that I shouldn't buy any more mega-palettes. I love some of the shades, especially Selfish and Sophisticated, but there are several that I've never even worn. These days I stick to singles and duos. Sure, the value is "better" if you buy a big palette instead of a couple of singles, but you're still spending more money--and if you don't use all the shades, the value argument fails anyway.

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  11. Wow!!! You def have lots of pretty palettes. No wonder why you have them...for they are all so very pretty.

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  12. Amazing post.. thanks for sharing .

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